a good computer?

[angel]

Could someone tell me if this is a good computer? I was going to buy it in the morning.

HP VP70 17-inch color monitor
HP Deskjet 3320v color printer
Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz processor
256 MB DDR SDRAM
CD-Writer/DVD-ROM combo drive
60 GB hard drive
Ethernet interface
56 Kbps modem
Windows XP Home Edition

Model No. 533w-b
Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard


thanks

[Markoman01027]

What manufacterer is the RAM?

What is the CD-Writer/DVD-ROM Combo drive manufacterer?

What is the manufacterer of the Hard Drive. Good hard drive companies are Maxtor and Western Digital. I use IBM right now, and it isn't all that great..gonna die soon...

Are you going to be sharing a Broadband connection? If so, then don't buy that 56kbps modem. You will not need it if you are going to be sharing Broadband/files(ethernet).

After re-reading your post. I noticed that this is Hewlett-Packard. They tend to give out generic RAM, not so good CD-ROM drives, etc.

Have you ever thought of building your own computer? Saves you the money and you will learn something new. You can come to PCMECH for all of your help on building a PC. You can check out their Computer building tutorial under assembly.

Edit: Edited by Paul - Double post corrected.

[RenegadeKing]

If you don't want to build your own computer, buy a dell. Stay away from HP/compaq.

[Colonel Sanders]

I'd agree with renegade, avoid HP and Compaq. If your not going to build-you-own, I'd get a Dell or a Gateway(preferably a Dell).

I'd also avoid a DVD/CD-RW combo-drive.

The 2GHz Celeron will be a bit of a disapointment, either go with a Pentium 4 or Athlon XP CPU(and I doubt you'll find many pre-builts with an Athlon XP ).

Logan

[Blakhart]

We will be glad to help you build one.

[Confused]

Depends on price. If it's, say $300.00 jump on it. If it's $1400.00 I would pass. So if we know price, we can give a much better answer.

While a custom build will be preferred answer on this forum, few here will argue with a HP or Dell if price is cheap enough.
Chas

[angel]

Thanks guys



I will stay away from this computer brand then. I just saw it today and my son has been wanting his own and thought if it was a fairly good one (for $800.00) that wouldn't break first thing I would get it for him. It was just a matter of Convenance for me. The store I would nornally go to is about 3 hours away compared to this one at 20 minutes. I dont have broadband and they won't both be connected to the internet at the same time, that is way more than I know how to do. I'll be lucky if I can even get it set up. It will be used by a 5 year old to send email and pictures to his Aunt and play online games only. I don't know the manufacterer of any of the parts, all I know is what it said on the box.

I don't believe that I could build one myself, I would like it to actually work. I barely know how to turn this one on. If I ever build one myself I will surely be here begging you guys for help.

thanks

Angel

[Fuze]

A little bit of research can go a long way.

[RenegadeKing]

I would definetely go with a dell.

[Tuf]

If you are not interested in building your own, buy a DELL and the onsite warranty.

[LawyerRon]

Run as fast as you can from HP and Compaq computers. Dell builds a decent machine and would be my choice.

[ylen13]

Originally posted by LawyerRon Run as fast as you can from HP and Compaq computers. Dell builds a decent machine and would be my choice.

well have to disagree.Currently own 3 different computers one of them being hp. I got in 97 and it died 3 month later board/hard drive(could happen with new computer) after they got that replaced i havne't had any problems with it at all. However i will agree with u that it's preferabel to build your own computer but if u don't wante to hp/comp & dell are your choices.I don't think u can really say which one is better then the other on. It all depends on you luck. Good luck with whatever computer u decided to buy.

[RenegadeKing]

Originally posted by ylen13 I don't think u can really say which one is better then the other on. It all depends on you luck.

Considering dell uses intel boards and quality components, I would say dell is the easy choice.

[LawyerRon]

ylen,
Nobody ever said Comcraps don't work.
If you've had good luck with Comcraps, that's great. Just try working on one of those POS's; it gets old real fast.

[ylen13]

Originally posted by LawyerRon ylen, Nobody ever said Comcraps don't work. If you've had good luck with Comcraps, that's great. Just try working on one of those POS's; it gets old real fast.

Generally dell is good but if the price is good hp/compaq can be as good.

[glc]

An $800 2 GHz computer is way overkill for a 5 year old, but if it has a good warranty and the store is convenient, go for it. It's a proprietary machine, but anything that is going to go wrong will go wrong soon after sale. Don't buy it with the idea of upgrading it or tweaking it - what you see is what you get, run it the way it comes till you outgrow it or it dies, it's a simple commodity.

[avx]

yes...I agree with everyone above. best bet is to stay away from HP or Compaq...especially compaq, poor parts, and if you ever want to upgrade, which you very much will trust me, it will be very difficult for you because they often put things together very tight, and unmanageable..I myself have a compaq and am very disapointed with the parts, performance, and especially the tech support and they offer horrible deals to boot, Gateway or Dell are great choices, try and get a Pentium...not Celeron Pentium3 or 4 P4 if you are going to be playing games and other stuff...256 megs of ram is fine, will run well for you, try and make sure it is either SDRAM or DDRAM but 512 is very good aswell, nice big harddrive, those basic requirements are often very good starters, it would be cheaper for you if you upgrade the rest yourself, meaning CD burner Graphics Card, stuff like that. if you dont know how thats ok...tell you kid to come on here and find out thats what my dad made me do, and I am going to be building my own PC very soon...that is if your kid is of age...

[ktkendall]

Hi Angel:
Do you have any of those little independant computer shops near you that has been there and has a good reputation. If I didn't feel like building one myself, I would go to the little independant shop I know locally, He has been around a good while, and have him build me a custom build. You will get as good a one as we are talking about here, that will have quality components and is not propriatery, and is quite upgradable, and if he is local you have your support and warranty readily available. You can pick the components, he gives you the price, puts it togother for you, tests it out and you get a good machine that shouldn't cost a whole lot more than a comparable DELL.

[Nuclear Krusader]

That one is a very good suggestion indeed, ktkendall.

And if you dunno about what parts you should select, Angel, just ask. We will "build" the PC for you so you can have the tech assemble it with the specs provided.

I have a Dell and I am very happy with it. I went and bought a Celeron model oh well...it still does what I want. You can get a Pentium 4 for not much more now. Anyway. Go with a Dell. Never buy a Compaq or HP.

[Xanieth]

I had a Compaq once. I then decided to get cable internet but to my dismay the stupid thing didn't even have PCI slots! It had a frellin' ACR slot for it's horrible 28k modem!

I would suggest you buy a computer from Dell if you are unsure of yourself with computer parts. If you gave us a price range I'm sure that the guys here could build you a computer on paper which you could give to a techie for him to build.

Since it's for a 5 year old I'm not going to recommend an Alienware or Falcon NW. That's overkill for a 5 year old. Hell, its overkill for most anyone.

[foghat46]

ktkendall hit it dead on the head, angel. Although I'm not opposed to Dell (one of mine is a Dell), they are limited and you'd be happier having someone build a quality unit for you. You'd not be happy with an HP/Compaq. We can spec one up for you, just let us know what you want it to do and how much you want to spend.

[bailey]

please do not buy that system, you'l be sorry

instead let us help you build one, you will much more happy

[glc]

Folks - look at the proposed use for this thing. I hate proprietary computers as much as anyone, but for THIS use it's fine and it comes with everything, and the store looks like it's convenient.

[bailey]

after rereading this entire thread I feel as you do, it really would be too much for a 5 yr old, but it would run all thoes preschool cd that are on the market, what the kid needs is something more econmical, say in the 4-5 hundred range, it don't need to be a p4 a celery set up would be better used, she might even be better off to look for a good used one and save a lot of money,
what the heck it will last a few years anyway.

I'm afraid we talked her out of it by now.

it I was her the used system is the way I would go.

[glc]

It is a Celeron. A $500 computer fast becomes an $800 computer when you add a 17 inch monitor, printer, and a legal copy of an OS. The HP probably comes with a bunch of what we would call junk software, but to a 5 year old it's cool.

The only reason I would suggest to the poster to build his/her own in this particular case is if he/she wants to learn, there won't be any savings doing it this way in this price bracket. He/she can't build a more "suitable for the use" machine for the same $$$, that HP should serve the kid quite well for the next 5 years with no upgrades - or until they start making educational software that needs a Radeon 9700 to run

[raftero]

i agree with glc,my wife has an HP we bought it from wallmart about 2 yrs ago it has given no trouble,she just surfs,emails and orders-orders-and orders HA,i think we paid about $600 for it.of course as everyone has said its a throwaway but for a starter for a 5yr old it would work.